The Social Network (2010)
Director: David Fincher
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake
Running Time: 2 hrs. 1 min
Rated: PG-13


Review by Brother Reed

Mark Zuckerberg is an a**hole. At least that’s what his girlfriend tells him when she breaks up with him in The Social Network, a compelling new drama from director David Fincher. Though I suppose girlfriends are likely to say such things following a break-up.

He’s not, really.

Now, at this point you may be asking what I mean. He’s not really an a**hole? Or he’s not really Mark Zuckerberg? If so, you’ve tapped into one of the major devices screenwriter Aaron Sorkin uses for the dialog in this film. Characters are constantly responding to statements in a conversation where the other character has already moved on. I guess it’d be ex-girlfriends, actually; and, both.

He’s not really Mark Zuckerberg because he’s a character played by Jesse Eisenberg. The real Zuckerberg apparently describes the film as being mostly fictional; the film creators say otherwise. While it’s hard to know who to believe (if this movie were about me I’d decry it, too) suffice to say when I reference Zuckerberg in this review it refers to the character and not the person unless otherwise stated. That little bit of politics aside, the movie in no way plays like open season on the CEO of Facebook. He’s portrayed as flawed, yes – at times immature and irritating – but also as intelligent and even well-meaning, if a bit single-minded. As an anti-hero, Godfather-style, some will see him as a villain. I think that depends on the mindset you bring to the film. In a way it’s a classic tale of the American dream. Everyone wants to come up with the next big thing. We’re just jealous Zuckerberg beat us to the punch. As he tells his opponents at law rather pointedly, “If you were the creators of Facebook, you’d have invented Facebook.” I personally found him rather likable at points. Maybe this is my inner nerd.

Eisenberg, known to me as the Cera-like star of themepark-based comedies, seems perfectly cast and gives a sharp performance buoyed by an even sharper script. Writers don’t get name-dropped much unless they’re Charlie Kaufman or Joss Whedon, but Aaron Sorkin’s name is all over the press for The Social Network. Better known for TV’s The West Wing, he delivers a standout screenplay filled with wit and verve. It’s important, too, because this sort-of-biographical movie is all about the words. If verbal jousts are as entertaining to you as physical ones, you’re in for non-stop action as smart people take on other smart people. If anything the script is too perfect. Surely a survey of the early days of Facebook would expose someone who didn’t have a ready-made comeback for every situation.


“I am not a computer nerd. I prefer to be called a ‘hacker’.”

The opening scene of The Social Network is a thing of beauty. Like the best opening scene last year from Tarantino’s masterful Inglourious Basterds, it centers on a conversation between two people. All the conflict is right there between their minds as a simple date becomes a mental and verbal confrontation. Immediately you know that this is no ordinary biopic, and thank heavens for that. The last thing I need to see this holiday season is another droning, self-serious biography. Not that The Social Network doesn’t take itself seriously, but it never feels bogged down even when we’re being assaulted with techno-babble that we know nothing about. The camera work and music, the latter being an intriguing score by Trent Reznor, don’t feel heavy or manipulative. Every frame of The Social Network crackles with life and energy, from the cinematography to the smallest supporting role.

Andrew Garfield does a great job as Eduardo, Zuckerberg’s friend and CFO. You’ll probably empathize with him as a likable guy who wants to help, wants what’s coming to him, but just can’t seem to stay on top of the situation. He’s the guy who isn’t quite up on the latest technology. Unlike Zuckerberg, he’s a businessman rather than an idealist and is frustrated at the “rock star” of dot com, Sean Parker. Justin Timberlake plays Parker, the creator of Napster who shows up to give Zuckerberg advice, woo attractive co-eds and just generally get a piece of the action. I never liked Timberlake and I don’t like him here, but he’s appropriate for the role. Armie Hammer (is this a joke name?) and Josh Pence share a pair of twins who sue Zuckerberg after they claim he stole the idea for Facebook from them. It’s a particularly great special effect of the best kind – the kind you don’t notice. David Fincher has a reputation as a director who loves technology and while I never thought of this as his type of movie, I now realize that a) it’s about technology, and b) his efforts are put to much better use than in something like Benjamin Button where even he couldn’t quite straddle the uncanny valley.

The story follows young Mark Zuckerberg, a sophomore at Harvard reeling from his recent breakup, as he spontaneously hacks his school’s online security to download all the students’ pictures and create a website that allows students to rate their classmates by appearance. As soon as this movie said “Let the hacking begin” I could feel my eyes starting to roll from all the movies I’ve seen where “hacking” involves people typing ridiculously fast and doing completely impossible things. In The Social Network no one Googles experimental medical procedures. The hacking sequence is fun but also grounded in reality. This leads to Zuckerberg’s notoriety and eventually his launch of thefacebook, aided by his friends and blockaded at every turn by his opponents, some of them former friends or business partners. A Nolan-like timeline skips back and forth between “current” deposition hearings and the main back story. The first time it happens, it’s jarring – after that you know what to expect.


Haters gonna hate

Does it tell a true story? I don’t know, and I’m not sure that I care. It’s generally advisable to get entertainment from Hollywood and not facts. This is not a documentary; and you might be surprised to know that with all the to-do about Facebook privacy, the lawsuit(s) that appear in the movie don’t concern the public. The Social Network is less concerned with how Facebook impacts us than it is with how the people involved with its inception impacted each other. The story is relevant and carries ideas about the current generation (mostly given by Timberlake) but it is drama and not propaganda, as it should be.

It is, however, most certainly a movie for my generation. I was in college when Facebook (originally called “thefacebook”) appeared and I remember when it finally spread to our school. I wonder how future generations will view this movie and if they will understand the delicious little ironies sprinkled into the dialog: things like how Facebook’s initial appeal was exclusivity, when now anyone with an e-mail address can join. Even if you don’t take the film at face value (no pun intended) it will likely make you think a little differently the next time you log on to that familiar blue and white screen.

Last year Up in the Air time-stamped how people lived in 2009. In 2010, The Social Network is much the same. This movie is right now. I’m not convinced that it warrants comparison to the greatest films of all time, as some are heaping praise upon it. What I can confidently say is that this is a shrewd, fresh, sometimes funny and always engaging drama about the world’s youngest billionaire. It’s one of the year’s best films.

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